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Legal learning programme

Community Care Live

Legal learning programme

The full details of the 2025 legal learning sessions will be added here in due course.

Please see below for details of the 2024 sessions: 

 

Tuesday 8th October 2024

9:45 AM - 10:45 AM

Adults

Hoarding, covert medication and capacity law

This session will look at difficult challenges for professionals working with adults with mental capacity issues who have become hoarders or where they refuse to take essential medication and judges order they must be secretly medicated. Senior lawyer Mike O’Brien KC will look at some recent cases, including ones where he was involved, where the courts have intervened - in sometimes draconian ways - to force people to change the way they live.

There is a fee to attend this Legal Learning Session at Community Care Live.

Rt Hon Mike O'Brien KC, senior barrister practising in the Court of Protection

 

2:15 PM - 3:15 PM

Adults

The Care Act 2024, Mental Health Act 1983 and asylum seekers with additional support

This session is designed to identify the legal framework for the provision of care and support to adult asylum seekers and their families, and those in immigration detention and on bail, in the UK. It will identify the duties owed by the Secretary of State for the Home Office and precisely identify the legal framework when other public bodies are responsible for the care of asylum seekers beyond that which the Home Office can provide. This session will briefly consider the impact of the Illegal Migration Act and Rwanda Safety Act on asylum support. It will also identify pathways and problems for asylum seekers when status is granted.

Attend this session to:

• Get an update on present law
• Have a clear understanding of the interaction of community law for asylum seekers
• Identify future legal issue and challenges for care and support for asylum seekers

There is a fee to attend this Legal Learning Session at Community Care Live.

Tim Baldwin, barrister, Garden Court Chambers

 

3:30 PM - 4:30 PM

Children

Competence, capacity or parental responsibility? A guide to all three for those working with young people

This session aims to assist those working with dilemmas of practice with young people when voices need to be heard, parents have a view and the law might sound confusing. It will re-visit basic principles alongside helpful case law and is designed to provide explanations and give confidence to practitioners when the three concepts appear to collide.

Attend this session to:
• Be clearer on the three concepts of competence, capacity and parental responsibility
• Explore relevant definitions and case law
• Understand how to apply the concepts within your day-to-day practice and explain them to others

There is a fee to attend this Legal Learning Session at Community Care Live.
 

Kellie Salter, family law barrister, 3PB Barristers

 

Wednesday 9th October 2024

 

Adults

The Mental Capacity Act and care and support decisions

This session will consider the relationship between, on the one hand, the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and, on the other hand, the Care Act 2014 and Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014. These are both separate and overlapping areas of law and it is important that social workers are confident in applying the Mental Capacity Act to care and support decisions where relevant. The session will explore the relevant legislative framework and key case law on matters such as assessing capacity and best interests decision-making in the context of care and support.

Learning outcomes:

• How to assess capacity for care and support decisions
• Making best interests decisions in the context of limited public funding
• The process of care planning when the person lacks capacity

There is a fee to attend this Legal Learning Session at Community Care Live.
 

Tim Spencer-Lane, lawyer specialising in mental capacity, mental health and social care law

 

11:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Adults

The legal framework for safeguarding adults

The legal framework for adult safeguarding begins but does not end with the Care Act 2014 and Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014. It is made up of a complex array of legal provisions which fall within mental capacity and mental health law, criminal law, civil powers, the common law, regulatory law and environmental and public health. This session will explore some of the complex relationships between the various legal provisions and how social workers can use the law to help frame their responses to adult safeguarding concerns.

Learning outcomes:

• Key adult safeguarding duties
• The role of the European Convention of Human Rights in adult safeguarding
• Limits of adult safeguarding law

There is a fee to attend this Legal Learning Session at Community Care Live.

Tim Spencer-Lane, lawyer specialising in mental capacity, mental health and social care law

 

2:15 PM - 3:15 PM

Adults

Section 117 aftercare - including ordinary residence

Section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983 is a unique and important legal duty. It establishes a strong legal requirement on local authorities and the NHS to provide free after-care services to certain former mental health patients. It has also been the subject of case law and survived various attempts by governments to abolish it. This session will explore the implications of section 117 for social workers and will consider the implications of the Supreme Court decision in the “Worcestershire case” on the meaning of ordinary residence for the purposes of section 117.

Learning outcomes:

• Eligibility for section 117 after-care and who is responsible
• When does section 117 after-care end
• Future plans for reform of section 117

There is a fee to attend this Legal Learning Session at Community Care Live.

Tim Spencer-Lane, lawyer specialising in mental capacity, mental health and social care law

 

3:30 PM - 4:30 PM

Children

Understanding why a child does not want to see a parent in the context of private family law proceedings

This session will explore the challenges social workers face in assessing a child’s best interests when they are reluctant or are refusing to see a parent. This can occur in the context of polarised accounts of domestic abuse and alienating behaviour. It will include reference to research and case law. A practical framework for supporting social workers making assessments in these circumstances will be shared. The focus of the session is supporting social workers to understand the child’s unique characteristics and needs and the impact on the child of harmful parental behaviour.

Attend this session to:

• Explore the full range of reasons why a child does not want to spend time with a parent following separation and how to assess this in the context of conflicting parental views
• Gain insight into how children are harmed in the context of parental separation when parents cannot agree arrangements
• Consider the options for improving outcomes for children in these circumstances

There is a fee to attend this Legal Learning Session at Community Care Live.

Sarah Parsons, principal social worker and deputy director of improvement at Cafcass, Cafcass

Event Partner

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Testimonials

  • The event was exceptionally well-organised, with a clear structure that made it easy to follow. The sessions were insightful, offering valuable perspectives and practical knowledge that I can apply in my professional role.
  • The day was powerful, with a positive impact on my learning and practice.
  • It was just what I needed, a chance to network, reflect and learn with colleagues from across the profession
  • Great variety of learning available both in presentations, theatre and guided conversations all relevant to my own working experience.
  • My experience was incredibly positive and far exceeded my expectations. I found myself enjoying the event much more than I anticipated.”
  • A great chance to share the joy of social work with new and familiar colleagues
  • It opened my mind to the different career paths and also the diverse ways in using the strengths approach in Social Work
  • Very glad I have finally had the opportunity to attend such an insightful day.

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